DONEGAL dual star Amy Boyle-Carr has become the lastest gaelic football recruit to Australian Rules football.
Amy, from Glenfin and also a Republic of Ireland soccer international, has signed up with Adelaide Crow for the 2024 AFLW season when her Donegal LGFA commitments are complete.
The 22-year-old becomes the third Donegal player on the books of an AFLW club alongside Niamh McLaughlin at Gold Coast Suns and Tanya Kennedy with Sydney.
However, Amy won’t get the chance to team up again with friend and fellow Donegal woman Yvonne Bonner who recently announced her retirement from Adelaide.
Amy is a three-time Ulster champion for Donegal, winning Player of the Match in the 2019 Ulster final.
In soccer, she made her Republic debut, aged just 17, in a World Cup qualifier against Holland in 2018.
Adelaide Head of Women’s Football, Phil Harper, said the new arrival would join the team at the completion of her commitments with Donegal next year.
“Amy is a dynamic athlete who is fast and agile, and has skills developed across two football codes that we think will translate well to AFLW,” Harper said.
“We were actually watching some vision of Yvonne Bonner ahead of the AFLW Supplementary Draft earlier this year and Amy kept catching our attention with her dashing runs.
“We love what the Irish players bring to our game, and we’ve had great success with the likes of Yvonne, Niamh Kelly and Ailish Considine and recently Mark Keane in our men’s program as well.
“We wanted to add some more speed and run to our squad and we think Amy has the physical attributes to play as a small forward, defender or even on the wing.
“We look forward to welcoming Amy and the Boyle-Carr family to our club.”
Ulster trio Niamh McLaughlin, Tyrone’s Cara McCrossan and Down’s Clara Fitzpatrick will continue in the AFLW with Gold Coast Suns in 2024 in 2024 while former Armagh footballer Amy Mulholland has signed up for the new season with Fremantle Dockers.
But Fermanagh’s Joanne Doonan, the first woman from Ulster to sign professionally for an Australian Rules club, has still to find a new club after being released by Essendon Bombers and could return to GAA next year.
